SOCIAL-MEDIA INDUSTRY Snowcial forges bonds for ski-loving innovators

Published 2:29 pm, Saturday, March 2, 2013

Skiers gather at Heavenly Ski Resort for the fifth annual Snowcial, an event that mixes business with skiing February 28, 2013 in South Lake Tahoe, California.

Skiers gather at Heavenly Ski Resort for the fifth annual Snowcial, an event that mixes business with skiing February 28, 2013 in South Lake Tahoe, California.

Photo: Max Whittaker/Prime, Special To The Chronicle

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Ski Lake Tahoe interactive manager Jenn Gleckman catches up on work emails during the chair ride up at Heavenly Ski Resort during the fifth annual Snowcial, an event that mixes business with skiing February 28, 2013 in South Lake Tahoe, California.

Ski Lake Tahoe interactive manager Jenn Gleckman catches up on work emails during the chair ride up at Heavenly Ski Resort during the fifth annual Snowcial, an event that mixes business with skiing February 28,

Aspen-Snowmass senior interactive marketing manager Dave Amirault skis at Heavenly Ski Resort during the fifth annual Snowcial, an event that mixes business with skiing February 28, 2013 in South Lake Tahoe, California. less

Aspen-Snowmass senior interactive marketing manager Dave Amirault skis at Heavenly Ski Resort during the fifth annual Snowcial, an event that mixes business with skiing February 28, 2013 in South Lake Tahoe, ... more

Photo: Max Whittaker/Prime, Special To The Chronicle

Snowcial - social media's peak networking

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What's replacing meme (and its first cousin, trope) as the buzzword of the moment among the digerati? Anyone? Anyone?

The new buzzword is disruptive. It's a compliment, not a reason for a scolding. It denotes a game-changer, as in, "That is some disruptive technology, dude."

Disruptive was easily the most-used word by speakers the past few days at Tahoe Snowcial, an annual meet-up of snow-loving social-media innovators at Heavenly Mountain Resort. Or, as nearly every one of the 100-plus participants calls it, just plain Snowcial.

It's Silicon Valley meets the High Sierra, "Revenge of the Nerds" hangs with "The Hangover."

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And though much of Snowcial actually takes place across the state line in Nevada, it is every inch a Northern California event. San Francisco and San Jose are a few hours' drive away, and the mix of digital magic and natural beauty fits the NorCal scene like a ski glove. With a dozen main speakers and a smattering of minor ones, abundant snow and sunshine, it's a lively affair. The participants' median age hovers around 30, and, somewhat surprisingly, they are roughly evenly divided, male and female.

At most techie gatherings, young men outnumber just about everyone else. Participant Joani Lynch, communications director for Mammoth Mountain in the eastern Sierra, explains, "A lot of the women come from the PR side."

No one at Snowcial, male or female, speaker or participant, dresses for success - a lot of jeans; not one suit or tie. Sneakers far outnumber high heels.

What makes this high-tech meeting different from others is the combination of skiable mountains and sin-lite Nevada. At Snowcial, the speakers aren't just there to talk - they're there to mingle. At every break, as well as on the chairlift and at late-night clubs, speakers and the spoken-to mix and chat, gossip and pitch. Sometimes, they leave as collaborators and friends.

Match of wits

There's one more distinguishing feature - Snowcial's "Lightning Round." In this multimedia match of wits, seven presenters speak on topics of their choosing. Among the presentations at this year's event: Raise Kids Like Puppies. How to Make Movies in Twenty Easy Lessons. How to Know When You're Too Stoned to Ski.

Each presentation is limited to five minutes. In that time, each presenter shows 20 slides.

But there's a hitch: Speakers don't control the timing of their slides; a computer does. And the audience is anything but passive; jeering, heckling and booing are encouraged, especially when speaker and slides get out of sync.

Heavenly idea

This is Snowcial's fifth year. It was started by Reno-based social-media maven David LaPlante and Heavenly's senior marketing director, John Wagnon.

LaPlante says such a gathering was obvious, if not inevitable: "It seemed really ridiculous to fly to a city to listen to great speakers during ski season. So why not bring them to Tahoe? And since most people go to conferences to learn and network, why not build a conference that makes making friends for life a priority?"

Wagnon sees it from a ski resort's point of view: "We saw that snow sports enthusiasts were using social media to share photos, video and ski stories. It was clear there was a convergence of snow sports and online/social media ... so we decided to bring everyone together to share thoughts on the crossroads between the two."

While the quality of the skiing and snowboarding is contingent on the snowpack, the quality of Snowcial talks is consistently higher than those at many academic conferences.

From Snowcial 2013, here are a few takeaway lines:

-- David Armano, managing director, Edelman Digital: "Journalists and newspapers are now doing paid content. The days are over for separation of church and state, editorial and advertising. The lines are getting crossed everywhere."

-- Dean Eckles, Facebook data science team: "Mobile doesn't mean the people are mobile. They're using a phone instead of a computer."

-- Stephanie Naegeli, digital marketing innovation manager, Nestle: "As a result of our online campaign, did sales increase immediately? No. Our success is changing the brand from old to modern."

-- Stanley Hainsworth, chairman and chief creative officer, Tether (who wears what's left of his hair in the style of a vintage TV clown): "When you look like Bozo the Clown, you turn up on Facebook a lot."

-- And Edelman's Armano again: "Digital is such a disruptive force that's constantly evolving. ITunes disrupted the music market, and now Spotify is disrupting iTunes. Broadcast media was disrupted by Huffington Post and the Internet. Buzzfeed is disrupting marketing firms."

World domination?

What's the place of Snowcial in the realm of disruption? LaPlante describes it thusly: "There is a secret society of skiers and snowboarders that would ultimately like to take over the world. Snowcial is a breeding ground of Manchurian candidates to make sure that happens."

As for what this event means to those who try never to miss it, two regulars offered their views.

Says Mike Henderson, who helps with organizing before taking his place in the audience: "We say that Snowcial connects the connected. On any given day I'll trade banter online with marketers from a handful of resorts, the designers who make them look awesome and the editors who write about them in leading magazines."

Paul Tolme, a Tahoe local and snow sports journalist, puts it this way: "It's a mashup of fantastic skiing and snowboarding with a double shot of social media geekery. It's nerds on snow."

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